Frank Lampard stays calm after England shock Spain

Frank Lampard urged fans not to get carried away after his second-half goal gave England a shock 1-0 win over world champions Spain at Wembley.

The midfielder was written off as an international footballer by some commentators earlier in the season, but showed he still has plenty to offer by captaining the team to a memorable victory and heading the decisive goal.

Frank Lampard celebrates England’s winner (PA)

Despite that, Lampard offered a calm and realistic assessment of the friendly and what the result and performance meant.

‘We’re very pleased. It’s great to beat them now – they are the best team in the world,’ the Chelsea star said.

‘We won’t get carried away over the fact we beat them. Let’s be realistic, they dominated the game. Our back four, with Scott Parker in front, were brilliant.

‘We won’t be shouting from the rooftops. We have a game on Tuesday [against Sweden] and the reverse may happen.’

The first half at Wembley was as uneventful as fans are ever likely to endure.

Spain controlled possession, but a well organised home side, with Phil Jones in midfield, prevented them from creating clear chances.

That soon changed after the break and Lampard broke the deadlock in the 49th minute.

James Milner floated over a free-kick and Darren Bent rose above Sergio Ramos to power a header against the post. The ball rebounded across goal and Lampard nodded it home from a yard out.

David Villa looked certain to equalise six minutes later when he sprinted clear of the defence, but after going round Joe Hart, the off-balance Barcelona forward pulled his shot into the side-netting.

Villa was much closer to levelling the scores when he seized on Johnson’s poor defensive header, controlled the ball with his chest and hit a volley that beat Hart but struck the post.

England survived another scare with nine minutes to play, when half-time substitute Cesc Fabregas burst into the area and puzzlingly chose to square the ball instead of shooting, allowing Parker to clear.

Fabregas wasted a further glorious opportunity with two minutes left to play, firing wide from Villa’s pullback, and the number one team in the world rankings went home empty handed.